And experts say humanity’s plastic consumption will only grow over the next 20 years.
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00:00This is Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, and while this is what some of their beaches look like,
00:09this is what it's like on other parts of their coastline, a veritable garbage dump
00:12of plastic.
00:13As plastic is deposited into the oceans, it never fully breaks down, but it is broken
00:18up into small bits called microplastics.
00:21These little bits can then be ingested by wildlife, wreaking havoc on the animals.
00:25And during a recent evaluation of areas around Brazil, researchers say they are absolutely
00:30shocked at how much of this stuff is in their waters.
00:32This is marine biologist Raquel Neves.
00:35Her and her team have been diving and collecting sea creatures for autopsies, and inside they
00:39have found some startling discoveries.
00:41Here's what she had to say about the situation.
00:43I was frightened.
00:44I knew I would find some microplastics, but I never thought it would be this much.
00:48That sample I showed you from the sea urchin is from a reference area that we thought to
00:51be clean.
00:52That is our cleanest spot.
00:54It calls for the contrary.
00:55Single-use plastic consumption continues to increase, expected to triple by 2040.